A certain study disclosed Essay Example

A certain study disclosed Essay Example A certain study disclosed Paper A certain study disclosed Paper It was reported in various journals that that there are approximately 80,000 people who died in the United States each year due partly to medical malpractice (Kessler et. a. l, 2006). Meanwhile, a certain study disclosed that one of every three doctors said that they or family members had been victims of a preventable medical mistake this is nearly 30 percent of doctors said they had seen a serious medical error in the past year. The improper administration of drugs causes injury to over. 3 million persons annually because of doctor prescription errors such as mislabeling, using incomplete patient information, contraindications, improper combinations of medicines, miscommunication of â€Å"drug orders, inappropriate bottle labeling, and mistaking drugs with similar names† (Kessler et. a. l, 2006). Medical malpractice is indeed becoming a great problem of the people the possible patients who rely on our doctors for most of our ailments. Patients rely on the medical practitioners for the best therapy and / or treatment they could get, and yet another or much worst problem was given to them. However, medical malpractice should not be viewed on the angle of death rates or percentiles of medical negligence alone as this is quite a broad and vital concept which requires specific definition for the better understanding and protection of even the most ordinary citizen. A study made by Fletcher, (2005) has provided a clear rationalization of medical malpractice. According to her, when a doctor negligently does something that a reasonable physician would not have done in that case, or when appropriate action was not taken when it should have been – that is what one calls medical malpractice. This debate over the medical malpractice crisis has become a no win situation for the politicians and the medical practitioner. With this situation, American Medical Student Association or the AMSA calls upon both sides to commit to comprehensive reform of the medical malpractice system, putting patients’ safety and justice first. While there has been plenty of attention to frivolous lawsuits and lawsuit lotteries, there has been little focus on the errors that go unreported, injured patients who receive no compensation, and doctors who commit multiple errors without sanction (Guglielmo, 2006). Moreover, AMSA has disclosed some figures which could confirm that a comprehensive reform regarding medical malpractice is very much needed. Some of which are (Fletcher, 2005): The annual costs to society for medical errors is $17 billion to $29 billion There is one in every eight preventable medical errors committed in hospitals results in a malpractice claim The mean payout in 2001 was $135,941 in 2001; only 5% topped $1 million Only 5 percent of doctors (1 out of 20) are responsible for 54 percent of malpractice payouts Only 8 percent of doctors (1 out of 12) with 2 or more malpractice payouts have been disciplined by their state medical board. Consequently, not only are the healthcare system is suffering. Even the costs incurred for insurances have been increasing rapidly. Insurers and reinsures in this segment (the medical) have suffered years of underwriting losses, caused by intense competition and under pricing of business to gain market share. Furthermore, medical malpractice jury awards have increased to record levels, causing a new paradigm of claims relentlessness. Although industry losses were less problematic during the bull market, when they were offset by investment income, still, claims costs and related expenses have skyrocketed, while investment gains have all but disappeared. Many insurers have responded by either leaving the market or imposing strict underwriting conditions under which they will consider writing this business (Guglielmo, 2006). Added to this, according to the Joint Economic Committee estimation, the cost of medical care increases by $10. 6 billion each year because of the defensive practice by doctors. The continuously increasing lawsuits filed against the physicians, premiums for medical malpractice insurance increased sharply too. It was estimated that cost of malpractice insurance for medical professionals for some doctors go as high as 25% of annual income (Fletcher, 2005). Because of the noted problems relative to medical malpractice, various tort reforms regarding medical negligence have been formulated. In fact, people are now becoming more aware that they have the right to file a case against the improper treatment or therapy given to them. However, to avoid more confusion or filing any wrong case against medical practitioners, the government has set clear guidelines of the right lawsuit against physician’s misconducts. With this, those who will file a case can have the proper basis against the physician. On the other hand, a person accused of malpractice can also defend him or herself by showing that one of the elements therein is missing and/or by establishing an affirmative defense. The basic elements necessary to prove negligence includes duty of care, breach of duty, injury, and proximate cause. Specifically (Fletcher, 2005): 1. Duty of Care – Once a doctor or any medical professional agrees to diagnose or treat a patient, he or she has assumed a duty of care toward that patient. This means that the health care professional must treat the patient with at least the same level of care as a reasonably competent health care professional. Although at present, the law does not place an affirmative duty on anyone, including health care professionals, to render assistance to others in most situations. Of course, a doctor can help if he or she wants to, but there is no legal obligation. 2. Breach of Duty – In most cases, a reasonably competent health care professional is the one who can stay abreast of the relevant treatment literature and the one who uses methods commonly accepted in the profession. Any professional who disregards well-established medical standards or attempts to perform procedures beyond his or her capabilities is exposing him or herself to a possible malpractice lawsuit. 3. Proximate Cause – In legality, proximate cause is a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any intervening event, produces injury, and without which, the injury would not have occurred. A simpler way of thinking about proximate cause is that it is an act which caused the plaintiffs injury for purposes of assigning liability. There are cases with which the defendant may have caused a plaintiffs injury in a technical sense, but the real flow of event that resulted to the injury was so complicated and improbable, that the defendant would have had no reason to be aware of any possible risk. In such cases where no reasonable person could have foreseen injury to the plaintiff, courts will probably not hold the defendant liable. Medical malpractice is becoming a very big burden for all sectors – which includes the medical professionals, the healthcare and insurance providers even the general public. The pain incurred, financial losses and lives lost will never be compensated especially if this problem persists. What is strongly suggested is that stricter rules and regulations (as imposed by the government and health policy makers) should be initiated. Compliance from the medical professionals (such as the nurses, physicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists and the likes) should be evaluated from time to time. More so, it will not be enough just to penalized the doctors who will be found guilty of medical malpractice by just paying the monetary losses of the victims. In fact, their license to practice should be retrieved or they should be asked to study again just to really understand what their roles as physicians are. Yes, medical malpractice is becoming rampant nowadays, and everyone should be protected from that. Laws, regulations and reforms that were set in the pursuit of protecting the welfare of every patient are very good endeavor of the government. But, patients still, should be responsible not to take advantage of these reforms. Yes, it is true that medical practitioners should refrain from doing such negligence on their practice, that they should be responsible enough from their every action with regards to the patients’ treatment. On the other hand, patients should also give due considerations with these doctors and physicians. They should think and seek legal advices first whether there is really a case to file against these doctors, and they should review also whether the negligence committed is surely to be blame on the doctor. With this, we can also avoid too much case filed against the doctors, who may be also the victim in the situation. References: Fletcher, Meg. November 14, 2005. State tort reform measures, loss control programs bring stabilization to medical malpractice market†. Business Insurance. Chicago:. Vol. 39, Iss. 46, p. 19-20,22,24. Guglielmo, Wayne. 2006. â€Å"Is Texas Tort reform Working? † Medical Economics. ABI/INFORM. Global 83:22 pp. 25 Kessler, Daniel, Summerton, Nicholas, Graham, John. Jul 21, 2006. â€Å"Effects of the medical liability system in Australia, the UK, and the USA†. The Lancet. London:Jul 15- Vol. 368, Iss. 9531, p. 240-246